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Saturday, April 11, 2015

Dole Plantation in Wahiawa, Hawaii

There is more than just the
white sand beaches and azure blue ocean to be seen on the island of Oahu. As
you drive out of the Waikiki area toward mauka on H-2, the middle of the island
will remind you of Central California with farmland as far as the eye can see.
One crop in particular is halakahiki, the beloved pineapple. You can see the
spear-like leaves sprouting from the red volcanic soil from the highway. James
Drummond Dole is knowns as the Pineapple King by putting his business and
agriculture degrees to the test. He was not the first person to grow pineapples
on the islands, but realized the potential of the enormous market outside of
the islands. In 1901, Dole’s first pineapple cannery was born in Wahiawa, HI.
Since then, the cannery moved to Honolulu to be closer to the shipping ports
and remained in operation until 1991.

In Wahiawa, the Dole
Plantation is still surrounded by pineapple crops. The visitor’s center is
painted in a bright pineapple yellow color and welcomes guests from around the
world. Inside you’ll find an enormous gift shop with Dole products along with
local, artisan crafted kitchen wares, foods, and gifts to take home with you.

Outside, you can take part in
a tour of the Plantation Garden or ride the Pineapple Express. If you want to
try something fun and challenging, the World’s Largest Maze is calling out to
you. My husband loves mazes and we always partake in this, always trying to
beat his time from the last visit. Once we get into the middle of the maze, I
let him go through the maze and collect the eight stencils. I like to sit on a
bench and bask in the sunshine. While doing so, I’m always visited by little
local birds.

Once my husband finishes the
maze, he is rewarded with lunch at the Plantation Grille. On this visit, we
opted to share Chili Cheese Fries and a Pineapple Float.

The Chili Cheese Fries is country-style beef and bean chili over
crisp, deep-fried crinkle cut fries, and topped with Monterey jack and
cheddar cheeses. It was a very large portion so it was just the right size
to share. The chili was more on the tomato base side making it sweeter
than we were accustomed. The cheese helped tone down the sweetness with its
creamy, salty flavor. Rating: 4/5

The Pineapple Float was the star! Since I used to work and live
near Disneyland, one of my favorite foods there is the Dole Whip from the
Tiki Juice Bar in Adventureland. What’s even better is to have it at the
Dole Plantation atop fresh pineapple juice. It was amazing! The frozen
creamy Dole Whip is exactly like it tastes at Disneyland. The pineapple
juice is sweet and tangy. It tastes like a 50/50 bar but with pineapple
instead of orange. I can’t wait to have another one! Rating: 5/5

Next time, I want to try one
of the plate lunches like the Kalua Pork or Loco Moco.

You can spend a few hours at
the Dole Plantation and then continue on to Haleiwa to visit the famous North
Shore.

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About Me

OC Food Diva is a local foodie in Orange County, CA with 11 years experience in restaurants - from kitchen to service to menu & restaurant design. With an adventurous appetite, Chelsea scours Orange County (and the rest of the USA) for great eats.